WHAT A JOURNEY, WHAT AN END!!!

Rumour mills had been churning and e mails decrying such fake news were in circulation for sometime. The news was about the untimely demise of the iconic APJ Abdul Kalam. On a fine Tuesday morning, yours truly was a recipient of one such SMS. Gosh! People ought not to be in a hurry to bury the man. Took a second look after sometime on the sender and the time. It was the previous night. The sender had posted yours truly earlier too. Could it still be a rumour? Looking around, everything appeared to be normal. There was no palpable grief or signs of mourning. There were school children being readied up for their routine. Heaving a sigh of relief that the icon was around to still ignite minds, the delete button was executed.

Couple of hours later, the newspapers with the large portrait of the icon were seen. Doubts resurfaced. Conversations opened up. The grief was not one that was being directed. There were no theatrics. People felt the loss of a near one. Soon another facet of the news emerged. It was that there would be no holiday as desired by the icon. Sure enough, there could be murmurs. But strangely, everyone merely said, "Wish the other bigwigs were like this man. He knows the value of time."

Undoubtedly, not the one falling under the handsome category but one who could cast a spell on his audience from the mesmerising orator A.B. Vajpayee to the young infant on the street. A person who could seat a hundred politicos under a roof and give a class on vision. A person who could turn on his exuberance to divert attention from the physique to persona. An icon who touched many lives, lived life on his terms and faced death on his terms. None could desire for a better end doing what you relish the most without a trace of any ailment. 

It does remind one of the famed poem Abhilasha( if memory serves me right) wherein the flower wishes to rest on a martyr rather than anywhere else. The flowers which rested on his mortal remains would undoubtedly have been inspired to rest on such an icon whilst on their last journey too!

What a journey, What an end!!!